Mechanism for recapping bottles



J. L. DAvls 2,966,771

4 MECHANISM FOR RECAPPING BOTTLES Filed March 26. 1959 A 5?, F2 .1, Z5 44 m /6 /6 United States PatentC 2,966,771 MECHANISM FOR RECAPPING BOTTLES James L. Davis, 3936 Johnson, Western Springs, Ill. Filed Mar. 26, 1959, Ser. No. 802,052

6 Claims. (Cl. 53-341) This invention relates to a bottle recapping mechanism which is adapted to utilize the original metal crowns or caps of bottles to effectively reseal their contents.

Carbonated beverages for home use are commonly purchased in quart bottles made from glass or a like material. A well-known problem exists in attempting to reseal the bottle to effectively retain the carbonation in the unused portion of the remaining beverage. Rubber and plastic bottle stoppers have commonly been used, but often they reseal the beverage ineifectively so that it becomes flat in a short period of time.

The present invention overcomes this difficulty by providing a mechanism for resealing the beverage with the original metal cap which is removed from the bottle to dispense the contents. The structure is unique in its form and operation, and it can be mounted hidden from view beneath wall cabinets in the kitchen.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved mechanism for replacing the caps or crowns upon bottles containing carbonated beverages.

Another object is to provide such a device which can be mounted beneath wall cabinets in the kitchen and yet be hidden from view when not in use.

A further object is to provide a bottle recapping mechanism having a bottle-carrying member which may be forced upwardly to carry a bottle and its crown into a crimping member for effectively resealing the original cap upon a bottle of carbonated beverage.

The invention is illustrated in a preferred embodiment in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a bottom plan view of the device shown mounted beneath the base of a wall cabinet;

Fig. 2, a side elevational view of the device shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3, a sectional view taken as indicated on line 33 of Fig. 1, but showing a bottle being recapped with the lever thrown to operative position; and

Fig. 4, a side elevational view showing the device in position to receive a bottle to be recapped.

In the embodiment illustrated, the mechanism includes a base or mounting plate, generally designated 10, a bottle-carrying member, generally designated 11, and an actuating handle, generally designated 12.

The mounting plate is preferably provided with a pair of downwardly struck lugs 15 and 16, each pair of which is apertured and arranged in opposed relation so as to afford supporting bearing surfaces for a journal rod 17 of the bottle-carrying member 11 and a journal rod 18 for the actuating handle 12.

The central portion of the mounting plate is preferably provided with an annular opening 20 which is encircled by a depending metal ring 21. The inner diameter of the depending ring 21 is of such size and shape as to act as a swaging or crimping surface for a peripheral annular wall 19 of a bottle crown or cap 22 which is resealed to embrace a capping lip 23 of a bottle 24.

2,966,771 Patented Jan. 3, 1961 plate 10, or it may be separately formed from a hardened metal and brazed or welded to the mounting plate. The mounting plate 10 may be also appropriately apertured to receive fastening means such as screws to insure a secure attachment of the mounting plate to the underportion of a kitchen wall cabinet.

The bottle-carrying member 11 may be swingably mounted by the arms 26, 27 on the journal rod 17. Each of the arms is similarly shaped and has an appropriately shaped lower camming surface 28, which terminate at their forward end in shoulders 31, 32. The arms are joined at their forward end by an integral bridge member 33 which is provided with a forwardly opening slot 34. The width and shape of the slot is such as to make a snug fit about the neck of the bottle 24 just below and bearing against an annular convex portion of the bottle. Thus as best seen in Fig. 3, the bottle may be fully inserted into the slot 34 to insure proper positioning of the bottle during a recapping operation.

The actuating handle 12 is preferably bifurcated to provide a pair of forward extensions 36, 37 which are in turn swingably mounted upon the journal rod 18. As best seen in Fig. 1, a transverse follower bar 38 is secured at its opposite ends to the two extensions 36 and 37. The

The ring 21 may be formed integrally with the mounting follower bar 38 strengthens and adds rigidity to the actuating handle 12, and in addition, it is positioned so as to be in cooperative relationship with the swingable bottle-carrying member 11.

Thus, as seen in Fig. 2, when the bottle recapping mechanism is in inoperative position, the follower bar 38 bears against each of the arms 26 and 27 to hold the bottle-carrying member'in its extreme upward position and hidden from view. In Fig. 4, the handle is shown swung downwardly about fifteen degrees so that the bottle-carrying member 11 is allowed to swing by gravity to its lowest position at which time it is adapted to receive the neck of the bottle to be recapped. As the actuating handle 12 is swung forwardly through its arc, the follower bar 38 continues to bear against the camming surfaces 28 and 30 to carry the bottle-carrying member 11 and the bottle 24 upwardly and into the depending ring 21 where the crown or cap 22 is tightly crimped once more about the capping lip 23. As seen in Fig. 4, the shoulders 31 and 32 at the ends of the camming surfaces 28 and 30 contact the follower bar 38 and arrest the forward swing of the actuating handle 12 before the handle strikes the bottle.

The actuating handle 12 is also preferably provided with offset portions 40 and 41 which are positioned to bear frictionally against the forward edges of the downturned lugs 13 and 14 to hold the actuating handle in its extreme upward inoperative position as shown in Fig. 2. In this position the entire recapping device is normally hidden from view behind the depending front wall of the kitcshen wall cabinet to which it is secured. The gripping portion 42 of the actuating handle 12 may be covered by a decorative plastic or the like if desired.

In some instances, it may be desirable to incorporate a bottle opener, generally designed 43, in the mounting plate 10. The bottle opener 43 is especially advantageous because it effectively removes the crown or cap with a minimum of distortion in the base of the cap. In the bottle opener herein shown, a cut-out portion 44 is initially provided in the mounting plate, and a ledge-like portion 45 is drawn downwardly from the mounting plate 10. The portion 45 is provided with an annular edge or lip 46 which is shaped to engage the exposed crimped edges of the cap 22. The edge 46 is preferably disposed a distance equal to the thickness of a crown below the lower surface of the mounting plate 10. Thus, a bottle to be opened can'be tipped into the cut-out portion 44 and swung backward into engagement with the annula r edge 46 so that the crown of the bottle is pivoted on the mounting plate at 47 during opening. It is thus apparent that there are no sharp surfaces bearing against the base of he .c q n or ra sli r nspnenin and d stort s q bending of h ar is m nim zed t c ta e t reus of t a 1 0. h b t Thus when it is desired to use the battle recapping e ha sm t ac uat n handle 4 i nitiell swu t9 the position shown 'in Fig. 4, and the neck of the bottle is inserted into the slot 349}? the bridge member 3 3. The used cap or crown is then placed loosely upon the open end of the bottle and the actuating handle is rotated clockwise, as shown in Fig. 3, to carry the upper end of the bottle and the crown into the depending ring 21 so that the spread annular wall of the cap is once more securely glinched about the capping lip of the bottle.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness of understanding only and no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom as modifications will be obvious ot those skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. Mechanism for crimping the annular wall of a crown in sealing engagement about the capping lip of a bottle, comprising: a mounting base adapted to be secured to a supporting structure, said mounting base having an annularly shaped portion of a size to snugly receive a crown when crimped into sealing engagement with the capping lip of a bottle; a bottle-carrying member formed for supporting the neck of the bottle beneath its capping lip, said member being swingably mounted on the base so as to carry a bottle from an initial position upwardly to a recapping position in which the capping lip and crown of the bottle are thrust into said annularly shaped portion so that the periphery of said annularly shaped portion will crimp the annular wall of the crown about the capping lip to effect sealing engagement; and a manually operable member movably mounted on the base and cngageable with the bottle carrying member for effecting swinging movement of said bottle-carrying member to move the bottle between said initial and recapping positions.

2. Mechanism for crimping the annular wall of a crown in sealing engagement about the capping lip of a bottle, comprising: a mounting base adapted to be secured to a supporting structure, said mounting base having an opening in its lower surface, said opening being defined by an annularly shaped portion of a size to snugly receive a crown when crimped into sealing engagement with the capping lip of a bottle; a bottle-carrying member having a camming surface, said bottle-carrying, member being swingably secured to the base for movement from an initial position upwardly to a recapping position in which the capping lip and crown of the bottle are thrust into said opening so that the periphery of said annularly shaped portion will crimp the annular wall of the crown about the capping lip to effect sealing engagement, the free end of said bottle-carrying member being provided with a slot for snugly receiving the neck of the bottle beneath its capping lip; and a handle member swingably secured to the mounting base and having a cam follower adapted to engage said camming surface when the bottle-carrying member is in initial position, whereby swinging movement of said handle member causes said cam follower to bear against said camming surface to effect movement of said bottle-carrying member from its initial position to its recapping position.

3. Mechanism as specified in claim 2 in which means are provided on the mounting base for cooperatively engaging and holding the handle member in inoperative position adjacent the lower surface of the base, the camming surface of the bottle-carrying member being shaped and positioned so that the cam follower on said handle member supports the bottle-carrying member adjacent the lower surface of the mounting plate when the handle member is retained in inoperative position.

4. Mechanism as specified in claim 2, in which said camming surface is provided with a forward stop positioned to engage the cam follower and limit forward swinging movement of the handle member after the bottle-carrying member is moved to recapping position.

5. A recapping device adapted to crimp the annular Wall of a crown in sealing engagement about the capping lip of a bottle, comprising: a mounting base adapted to be secured to a supporting structure, said mounting base having an opening in its lower surface, said opening being defined by an annularly shaped portion of a size to snugly receive a crown when crimped into sealing engagement with the capping lip of a bottle; a bottlecarrying member having a pair of rearwardly extending, laterally spaced arms hinged to the mounting base for swinging movement from an initial position upwardly to a recapping position in which the capping lip and crown of the bottle are thrust into said opening so that the periphery of said annularly shaped portion will crimp the annular wall of the crown about the capping lip to effect sealing engagement, each of said arms being proided with a similarly shaped camming surface, said bottle-carrying rnernber having a forwardly projecting free end bifurcated to afford a slot for snugly receiving the neck of the bottle beneath its capping lipjand a handle member swing-ably secured to the mounting base forwardly of said arms of the bottle-carrying member, said handle member having follower portions adapted to engage each camming surface of said pair of arms when the bottle-carrying member is in initial position, whereby swinging movement of said handle member causes said follower portions to bear against said camming surfaces to effect movement of said bottle-carrying member from its initial position to its recapping position.

6. A recapping device adapted to crimp the annular wall of a crown in sea-ling engagement about the capping lip of a bottle, comprising: a mounting base adapted to be secured to a supporting structure, said mounting base having an opening in its lower surface, said opening being defined by an annularly shaped portion or" a size to snugly receive a crown when crimped into sealing engagement with the capping lip of a bottle; a bottlecarrying member having a pair of rearwardly extending, laterally spaced arms hinged to the mounting base for swinging movement from an initial position upwardly to a recapping position in which the capping lip and crown of the bottle are thrust into said opening so that the periphery of said annularly shaped portion will crimp the annular wall of the crown about the capping lip to effect sealing engagement, each of said arms being provided with a similarly shaped camming surface, said bottle-carrying member having a forwardly projecting free end bifurcated to afford a slot for snugly receiving the neck of the bottle beneath its capping lip; a handle member provided with a pair of laterally spaced extension members straddling the arms of said bottle-carrying member, said extension members being swingably secured to the mounting base forwardly of said arms of the bottlecarrying member; and a follower rod secured at its opposite ends to said extension members and positioned beneath the camming surfaces of said arms so as to engage said camming surfaces when the bottle-carrying member is in initial position, whereby swinging movement of said handle member causes said follower rod to bear against said camming surfaces to effect movement of said bottle-carrying member from its initial position to its recapping position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED sTATEs PATENTS 

